Minnesota Vikings: Could Kirk Cousins seriously win NFL MVP in 2019?

Entering Week 12, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has the sixth-best odds to win 2019 NFL MVP. Could he actually win the award at year’s end?

Going Week 12 of the 2019 NFL season, talk surrounding the NFL MVP award is starting to heat up. There are many well-deserved names among the list of players that are viewed to be favorites to be named the MVP for the 2019 campaign through 11 weeks of action, including the likes of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and more.

One of the more surprising names on the list of players that could be in the running for the award at the end of the regular season, although he is also deserving based on his play to this point in the year, is Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.

According to the latest NFL MVP odds, courtesy of The Action Network, Cousins has the eighth-best odds to win the award, tied with Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas and 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo with +4000 odds.

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Could Cousins actually be in serious contention for the 2019 MVP award as the regular season continues to move along? It appears as though it could certainly be a possibility, although still unlikely to happen.

Although Cousins hasn’t really been a name that many have viewed as a player that has put together an MVP-caliber season up to this point, the quarterback has been performing really well for Minnesota in 2019 in his second season with the Vikings after signing with the squad as a free agent prior to the 2018 campaign.

Coming into the year, Cousins has often been tagged with criticism while many view him as a player that hasn’t necessarily lived up to the hype and the contract he currently obtains, has taken a nice step in the right direction so far in 2019 and has led the Minnesota offense to an 8-3 start to the year.

In his eighth season in the NFL, Cousins has tallied 2,756 yards through the air this season along with 21 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

While converting on 226 of his 320 pass attempts to hold a completion percentage of 70.6 percent in 11 games, Cousins is averaging 8.6 yards per pass which is a career-best mark as a professional.

As far as how Cousins’ performance to this point in the season has staked up against the rest of the NFL and among other quarterbacks throughout the league, he heads into Minnesota’s Week 12 bye week ranking fifth in the NFL in total passing yards, while ranking tied for second in touchdown passes, eighth in completions, 14th in total pass attempts and 17th in yards passing per game (250.5).

Cousins has been consistent for a majority of the year after starting the season off on a bit of a rocky start within the Vikings offense, which is starting to gather some attention from people around the league.

In the last seven weeks of play, which has resulted in Minnesota going 6-1 during that span to come to its current record of 8-3 and a current spot in the postseason picture, Cousins has played a large role in providing consistency and solid play to the Vikings while they try to head back to the playoffs after missing the postseason in 2018.

Cousins has been able to open things up in the passing attack for Minnesota and has pushed the offense to the next level as a unit that can match up against another other offense throughout the league.

Although the ultimate goal for Cousins and the Vikings is continuing to thrive while trying to keep their spot in the playoff picture for a remainder of the regular season, the quarterback could also find himself in more MVP conversations moving forward if his play as of late continues to occur in the final few weeks of the year.